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Johnson sponsoring refugee screening bill

U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisconsin, says the U.S. should increase screening of Syrian refugees, and look at the visa waiver program.

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Updated: 9:00 AM CST Nov 22, 2015

Johnson sponsoring refugee screening bill

U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisconsin, says the U.S. should increase screening of Syrian refugees, and look at the visa waiver program.

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Updated: 9:00 AM CST Nov 22, 2015

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WEBVTT WANTS TO PAUSE THE FLOW OF SYRIAN REFUGEES INTO THE U.S. BY CALLING FOR STRICTER SCREENING. NEXT, HOMELAND SECURITY CHAIRMAN, SENATOR RON JOHNSON ON WHAT TO DO ABOUT THE REFUGEES FLEEING WAR-TORN SYRIA. AND HOW THE U.S. SHOULD RESPOND TO THE ISIS PARIS ATTACKS. THEN, CHRIS VERSUS CHRIS? STATE SENATOR CHRIS LARSON ON HIS BID TO UNSEAT MILWAUKEE COUNTY EXECUTIVE CHRIS ABELE. AND, THE YEAR OF THE OUTSIDER CANDIDATES. WHY ARE VOTERS SO ANGRY? covering the issues important to Wisconsin. This is "UpFront with Mike Gousha." MIKE: HELLO AGAIN, EVERYONE, AND WELCOME TO "UPFRONT". WE BEGIN TODAY WITH THE FALLOUT FROM THE DEADLY TERRORIST ATTACKS IN PARIS, AND THE AMERICAN RESPONSE, WHICH IS BEING LED IN PART BY LAWMAKERS FROM WISCONSIN. THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF SPEAKER PAUL RYAN, OVERWHELMINGLY APPROVED A BILL LAST WEEK THAT WOULD TOUGHEN NEW SCREENING PROCEDURES FOR SYRIAN REFUGEES SEEKING TO ENTER THE UNITED STATES. Rep. Paul Ryan: It would mean a pause in the program until we can be certain beyond any doubt that those coming here are not a threat. MIKE: PRESIDENT OBAMA SAYS SYRIAN REFUGEES ALREADY GO THROUGH THE MOST VIGOROUS VETTING PROCESS. President Obama: The overwhelming numbers who have been applying are children, women, families, themselves victims of terrorism. MIKE: WISCONSIN SENATOR RON JOHNSON, WHO CHAIRS THE SENATE HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE, HAS INTRODUCED A BILL IN THE SENATE THAT IS A COMPANION TO THE HOUSE BILL. WE ARE JOINED NOW BY SENATOR JOHNSON, WHO IS AT OUR SISTER STATION, WBAY TV. Senator, it's good to have you back on the program. Because of your position of chair of Homeland Security, you have been getting briefings from Homeland Security officials. What can you share with us about what you are being told? SENATOR JOHNSON: the refugee vetting process is pretty robust. It takes 18 months to 24 months, it is redundant and relies on interviews and a host of databases. One of our problems in terms of Syria is a lot of the information isn't there. We held a hearing on this very issue yesterday. We talked about that robust vetting process. It's pretty common sense. We require CEO's to certify the quality of their financial information they provide the public. I think it's reasonable to have the Secretary of Homeland security and the director of the CIA and the director of the national Center on counterterrorism to certify that use the process, they haven't short-circuited the process at all, and that the people they do lead in, women and children, hopefully relatives of Syrian American citizens who can financially support the refugees pose no threat to America. I think it's a pretty reasonable Basel and I'm glad the House passed it. It appears to be a vetoproof majority, very bipartisan. I've had veteran Democrat senators say they want to participate. MIKE: will it be blocked by Democrats? SENATOR JOHNSON: I want to work with the Democratic senators that approach me, talking about maybe what we need to do is also include reforms to the visa waiver program. We really heard the greater threat was the refugees flowing into Europe, these countries and we have a visa waiver program in effect with. And of course, those individuals can get to America and whole lot easier without going through the whole vetting process. One of the things we talked about with the refugees, if you are a terrorist that wants to get into America, it's an inefficient way to come in. As a refugee it takes 18 to 24 months. It's far more effective to sneak into Europe and use the visa waiver system to come into Canada or Central and South America and come in through the borders. There's actually greater dangers, but I want to try and eliminate all threats to this nation, that's impossible to do. Let's take a look at every program, including the refugees coming from Syria and do that very common sense certification process. MIKE: the president says it's vigorous already. My understanding, and correct me if I'm wrong, you have each refugee being vetted by the U.N. relief agency once they arrive in this country. But then you do have interviews being done by the FBI and Homeland security, Defense, State. What more could we be doing that we are not currently doing? SENATOR JOHNSON: let's say you were a Syrian citizen who is never done anything wrong, you've never been out to the no-fly zone list or the terrorist watch list. You're not going to get noted in those vetting process. Same thing if you are a citizen of France or Belgium. A citizen of France carried out the terrorism in Paris. The administration is going to increase refugees 21% the first year, and we have the resources? Will there be pressured to short circuit that process, which is why I think the bill the House passed that I introduced in the Senate is a very common sense certification that certainly assures the American public we are not going to short-circuit that process of vetting. MIKE: do you think we are in any way playing into ISIS's hands by changing our stance on accepting and resettling Syrian refugees? SENATOR JOHNSON: I don't think we are changing our stance. We are a very compassionate nation, people who are under threat of death or people who have been tortured, I think we will allow some of those refugees in. I think the and administration is dedicated to doing that. Let's make sure that we do it and completely minimize the risk with this common sense certification process. But the root cause of the problem, the refugee problem is a symptom of the problem. The root causes that ISIS continues to exist, they hold territory. What we need to do is establish a coalition of the willing and be serious and resolved to defeat ISIS, deny them that territory and start setting up safe zones within serious of those refugees can remain in Syria. Over time, work towards replacing assad. We are not showing the kind of leadership we need to Congress that goal. MIKE: you said you favor U.S. troops as part of this coalition going into these countries to help move ISIS out of the safe areas. How many American troops would you support sending overseas to push this mission? SENATOR JOHNSON: I'm not a military expert. The model I use is what George H.W. Bush used when Saddam Hussein went into Kuwait. He clearly laid out the goal, and then he sent the coalition, the U.S. provided two thirds of the troop level. Coalition partners provided one third, and they pay for 85% of the effort. That's a full commitment by the world community towards a goal. An Islamic terrorists have declared war on the world come on civilization in the 1990's. We had some success, but we have never been fully committed to wiping out Islamic terrorists. It's a long struggle, but we have a clearly defined goal right now, defeat ISIS, deny them territory, interact in Syria, let's get that coalition of the willing completely committed. When President Obama says he takes American troops, boots on the ground off the table, no coalition partners are going to do it on their own. They need American leadership, we need to provide that leadership and resolve. MIKE: you are not a military guy, but is it 10,000, 20,000, give us an idea of what you are talking about? SENATOR JOHNSON: I've been told by military experts that ISIS, militarily, is not particularly capable. They are being driven out of Sinjar bypass murder troops, who are really good fighters, but they are not highly trained. ISIS is not that good militarily. They are sophisticated in terms of social media, spreading this vile and barbaric ideology. Recruiting people to join their jihad. But militarily, it would not be that difficult fighting. It wouldn't take anywhere near the efforts of the first Gulf War did. I've been hearing 25,000 troops, a coalition of 100,000. I don't know the exact numbers. We have to be committed to the goal. Every day that ISIS exists, they continue to inspire the type of barbarity we saw play out in Paris, in Beirut, the downing of the Russian jetliner. This thread isn't going away, it's growing and metastasizing. Have to take it seriously. MIKE: based on the information that is shared with you, because of your leadership position on that committee -- is the homeland at great risk right now? Is an attack likely or inevitable? SENATOR JOHNSON: we continue to hear from the intelligence community there is no specific, credible threats. Let's hope that is true. They continued to say that the greatest threat really is homegrown violent extremists. People who are inspired through social media by ISIS. That's what we are being told. But the FBI director says we have active investigations in all 50 states. We've had a couple of hundred American citizens go over to Syria, possibly be able to come back here, either overtly or covertly. So this is a real threat. All we have to do is take a look at the tragedy in Paris and realize that we are all vulnerable. Until ISIS and Islamic terrorists across the globe are defeated, we all remain vulnerable and we have to take the threat seriously. We cannot bury our heads in the sand on this. MIKE: Senator Ron Johnson, chair of the Homeland security committee. We appreciate your time. NOW IT'S TIME TO TELL US WHAT YOU THINK. SHOULD THE U.S. CONTINUE TO ACCEPT SYRIAN REFUGEES -- ALL OF THEM, SOME OF THEM, OR NONE OF THEM? YOU CAN TELL US BY LIKING AND SHARING "UPFRONT" ON FACEBOOK. NEXT ON "UPFRONT", THE RACE FOR MILWAUKEE COUNTY EXECUTIVE IS ALREADY HEATING UP. WHY ONE DEMOCRAT IS TAKING ON ANOTHER. PLUS, THE ANGRY ELECTORATE. LATER ON "UPFRONT", WE ASK -- WHAT ARE VOTERS SO MAD ABOUT? MIKE: WELCOME BACK TO "UPFRONT". THE

Johnson sponsoring refugee screening bill

U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisconsin, says the U.S. should increase screening of Syrian refugees, and look at the visa waiver program.